Visayan Electric Announces One Year Test Run on Electric Vehicle for its Service Fleet

The second biggest power utility in the Philippines has started its shift to using electric-powered vehicles for its service fleets–the vehicles used by its staff,   linemen, and repair crew

Visayan Electric President and COO Raul Lucero announced on Wednesday (September 20) that the company has purchased one e-vehicle which they will test for one year.

And if the trial period proved successful, Lucero said, they will purchase additional units that would eventually replace all the diesel and gasoline-fueled service vehicles of Visayan Electric.

The purchased e-vehicle is from China-based BYD Company. The van-type vehicle is pegged between P2-P2.5 million with a battery lifespan of 7 years.

Lucero said that they wanted to test the vehicle’s limitations and see whether the features given by BYD are true. They also wanted to know if the vehicles are capable of maneuvering upland villages.

BYD has said that one full charge would allow the vehicle to travel at most 100 kilometers and this is also one of the features they wanted to check. 

Visayan Electric has about 50 service vehicles excluding the crane and boom trucks. The trucks remain fossil-fueled since there are no electric trucks yet.

By 2030, Lucero said that they will be able to replace some 20 vehicles or about 40 percent of their fleet with e-vehicles.

Lucero said that they are also looking to replace the motorcycles to electric powered vehicles soon.

Visayan Electric covers a huge portion of the Metro Cebu area including the cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue, Talisay, and Naga in Cebu Province.

As of August 2023, Visayan Electric has at least 497,000 subscribers. (ZAG)